https://www.miningweekly.com

Kirkland Lake rises as 2016 acquisitions boost profit, initiates dividend

Kirkland Lake rises as 2016 acquisitions boost profit, initiates dividend

Photo by Duane Daws

30th March 2017

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

     

Font size: - +

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The TSX-listed stock of Canadian midtier miner Kirkland Lake Gold on Wednesday gained 6.6% after the company reported significant growth in earnings for the three months ended December 31, boosted by two transformative acquisitions in 2016 that lifted output and lowered costs.

For the fourth quarter, the Toronto-based company reported adjusted earnings, excluding special items, of $27.91-million, or $0.19 a share, beating analyst forecasts for earnings of $0.12 a share. This was a significant rise on the adjusted earnings of $609 000 reported in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Net earnings for the period were $3.1-million, or $0.02 a share, compared with earnings of $609 000, or $0.01 a share a year earlier.

Consolidated revenue reached a record $134.2-million, while consolidated operating cash costs and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce sold remained low at $533/oz and $883/oz, respectively.

Kirkland Lake reported record quarterly gold output of 106 609 oz, including ounces produced in the month of December 2016 from the Australia operations following the acquisition of Newmarket on November 30. Production growth in the fourth quarter was led by Macassa, in Ontario, which produced 52 318 oz, at a run-of-mine grade of 21.6 g/t and mill recovery of 97.6%.

Kirkland Lake also in January 2016 acquired St Andrew Goldfields, which operated the Holt, Holloway and Taylor mines in the Timmins mining district, in Ontario.

Kirkland Lake reported that its Canadian mineral reserves increased by 20% between 2014 and 2016 to 2.75-million ounces of gold, while its Australian mineral reserves increased 24% from 2015 to 952 000 oz of gold as at December 31, outpacing depletion.

For the full year 2016, Kirkland Lake produced 314 495 oz of gold, beating the top range of guidance at 290 000 oz.

For 2017, the company is targeting gold output of 500 000 oz to 525 000 oz of gold, at an AISC of between $950/oz and $1 000/oz.

The combination of the high‐grade Macassa mine complex and the low‐cost Fosterville and Taylor gold mines, will form the production backbone of the company going into 2017 and in future. Kirkland Lake’s strong balance sheet provides financial flexibility to support its strategy and aggressively explore district-scale opportunities, the company stated.

The board has initiated a dividend policy, declaring a quarterly payment of $0.01 a share.

Kirkland Lake’s stock reached an intraday high of C$10.08 a share on Wednesday, having gained 42.59% in value since the start of the year.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

SBS Tanks
SBS Tanks

SBS® Tanks is a leading provider of innovative water security solutions with offices in Southern Africa, East and West Africa, the USA and an...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Showroom image
Alcohol Breathalysers

Supplier & Distributor of the Widest Range of Accurate & Easy-to-Use Alcohol Breathalysers

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (15/03/2024)
15th March 2024 By: Martin Creamer
Gold, hydrogen, mining boost make headlines
Gold, hydrogen, mining boost make headlines
15th March 2024
Magazine round up | 15 March 2024
Magazine round up | 15 March 2024
15th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.107 0.14s - 107pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now